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Snow Leopard Heresy
Friday, August 28, 2009 / PowerMax Culture, Software / 10 Comments
As I write this, the internet airwaves are awash in reports and reviews of Snow Leopard, Apple’s latest operating system. My contribution to the broohaha is designed to represent the majority of computer users who for the most part don’t, or shouldn’t, give a rat’s patootie.
The Snow Leopard Arrives August 28th
Thursday, August 27, 2009 / Software / 0 Comments
Way back at the WWDC conference in June, Apple let the world know that its next upgrade to OS X, dubbed Snow Leopard, could be expected around September. But after what feels like an eternity of guesses and anticipation (imagine that!) the black turtlenecks have given us all a little gift and and actually shipped early (imagine that too!).
DockStar: Supercharge the Mail.app dock icon
Thursday, January 24, 2008 / Software / 0 Comments
In this day and age, between work e-mail, free e-mail, multiple home accounts and even newsfeeds, opening your inbox can seem an overwhelming task. Many of us have had the experience of shouting, “WHAT?! 264 new messages?! I just got everything caught up last night!”
Well, now, with the aid of a simple utility, you can help get yourself a little more organized, without a single change to the way you read your e-mail. No complicated e-mail filtering rules, no lectures on what can and can’t stay in your inbox, no clandestine meetings at E-mailers Anonymous.
Keep Your Eyes On Your Screen
Tuesday, July 10, 2007 / Software / 0 Comments
Sometime during the last decade, the era of traditional touch-typists began to wane. It’s ironic because more people interact with a keyboard now than in any other time in history. Perhaps it’s because some of our keyboards are not standard QWERTY keyboards. We use cell phones and smart phones that use thumb typing. Or we use a standard keyboard but with one hand resting on a mouse. Unlike the text-driven days, we click the mouse button almost as much as we click keys on the keyboard. Whatever the cause, we know the vast majority of us are not true touch-typists, and that means we are looking at the keys when we type. Why else would Apple make a laptop keyboard that lights up in the dark? In the interest of getting your eyes back to where they belong, I have two products the will keep your eyes on your screen and not on the keyboard.
Making Sense of Adobe Creative Suite 3
Monday, May 14, 2007 / Software / 0 Comments
The title of this article may be a little misleading. This guide is not about learning how to use the new Creative Suit applications — that would require an undertaking of encyclopedic proportions. This article will attempt to explain the differences between the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Standard, Premium and Masters Editions.
Since the acquisition of Macromedia in 2005, Adobe has incorporated newly updated applications (such as Dreamweaver) into their suites. The result is a comprehensive, albeit confusing, collection of software.
The Right Place to Write
Thursday, November 16, 2006 / Software / 0 Comments
The line between writing and publishing has become blurry over the past decade. It became that way mostly due to the widespread integration of Desktop Publishing… and that became a problem. It may be hard to imagine a tool like desktop publishing being a problem, but it this kind of ubiquitous tool puts “form” ahead of “substance.” That relationship has weakened the writing tools we have. Fonts and line spacing are products of print publishing, and not of content creation. Words create substance in writing, not formatting. This was not much of a problem when word processors and page layout programs were separate. Now we have a single bloated program that pushes features and appearance over functionality. The troubles stem from the need for profit and the desire for dominance… two qualities that often define Microsoft.
“Unknown Artist” No More
Wednesday, July 26, 2006 / Software, iTunes / 1 Comment
One of the true powers of iTunes and digital music is that it’s searchable. As personal music libraries grow to thousands of songs, they would be cumbersome to use if people could not search by a multitude of song data. Many of us have been listening to MP3s since the 90s, long before song names and other information were automatically filled in for us. Back then we were probably a little sloppy with our labeling. Like many of you, I have old MP3 files with missing album info or shorthand spellings. Worst of all, some MP3s I imported from homemade mix CDs and now I’m clueless as to what songs they are. Next to my nicely indexed new song files those old MP3s are mostly ignored. Often I have wished for some all-knowing music zombie to go through iTunes and correct my MP3 data tags. At last someone wrote that zombie application and it is called iEatBrainz.
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Photoshop Elements 4
Sunday, June 4, 2006 / Software / 0 Comments
When I was a child, my father often used much more powerful tools than he needed. He used a chainsaw to cut twigs for kindling. To mow the lawn, he used a tractor fitted with a brush cutter. If there were more than one tool for the job, my father would always choose the biggest one… sometimes with disastrous consequences. The chainsaw threw dirt all over the yard as it went through the twigs, the lawn, and anything else that happened to be in the way. The tractor once rolled over on him. He is living proof (no, he hasn’t killed himself yet) that the biggest tool isn’t always the right tool for the job.
Remembering All 100 Passwords
Friday, March 31, 2006 / Software / 0 Comments
Over the last decade, I have accumulated nearly 100 passwords, more than any one person should be expected to remember. During the early years, I used the same password for everything. Although this method works most of the time, it’s not very secure. Later on I started using Apple’s Keychain to remember my passwords. This worked well until the website changed its layout and consequently it was no longer recognized by Safari’s AutoFill function. Then I was stuck without any chance of remembering what the password was. Because AutoFill remembered the password for me, I did not even use a cute way of recalling that password (For instance, I once used a combination of my dog’s name and my childhood home’s street address). So I had to reset my password, right? No, I didn’t, and neither do you. If this happens to you, there is a perfect little utility on your hard drive waiting to bail you out. It’s called Keychain Access and like its name implies, it gives you access to all your saved passwords in the OS X Keychain.
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Hidden Free Features of iPhoto 6
Tuesday, March 14, 2006 / Software / 0 Comments
When iPhoto 6 was demonstrated at MacWorld, I barely noticed the addition of the Card and Calendar features. Both features are presented in the same fashion as the photo book feature that has been part of iPhoto for a long time. I was never thrilled with the “Book” feature because it had to be sent off to a printer who would then mail it to me. Ignoring the print fee aspect of the process, it’s inconvenient to have to wait for something I create on my computer to be mailed to me. Not having to wait for my pictures is why I have a digital camera in the first place. So I ignored the Card, Calendar, and Book buttons on the bottom of the iPhoto window. Because, to me, they were a bad idea just meant to collect more money from me and eat up my time.
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iPhoto in the RAW
Tuesday, December 20, 2005 / Software / 0 Comments
iPhoto has been doing some growing up lately. When it was first released I had great hopes for its potential to “iTunes” my photo collection… hopes that were soon dashed. One of my biggest complaints was that it would make copies of all my photos and organize them as it saw fit. I resisted for a year, not wanting to give up control of my photo filing system. But after discovering my system was not really easier to use, I opted for the visual scan and album method of iPhoto. Little by little, iPhoto changed into an invaluable friend of my photos the way iTunes bonded with my music. Photo albums are published to my .Mac account in minutes, and pictures are compressed for easy email. iPhoto 5 has an abundant list of features, including support for the RAW file format. However, iPhoto 5 only supports RAW taken from some cameras and only if you get them directly from the camera. Not from a folder or older collection.
I Luv Disk Utility
/ Software / 0 Comments
My favorite Apple application is an often-overlooked program called ‘Disk Utility.’ Found in the ‘Utilities’ folder located inside the ‘Applications’ folder, it has been included in every version of Mac OS X. As OS X has advanced, so has Disk Utility; becoming much more than the hard drive formatting application it used to be. Some of you have used Disk Utility to format or repair a damaged hard drive. Perhaps you have read about ‘Repairing Disk Permissions’ and that’s how you use Disk Utility. All of those things are great features, but with Disk Utility 10.4 there is a world of additional features far more useful than just maintaining a hard drive.
The New Face of IT, It’s in the Mirror.
Thursday, October 20, 2005 / Software / 0 Comments
Just like in many businesses, most families have an IT person. One person that will always get “the call” when technology stops behaving. It often starts out as a compliment: “you’re so smart at these things,” they say. But then the calls keep coming. Because you’re reading this, you may be that person. So perhaps you should come to grips with your new, non-paying, IT job and start using some professional IT tools.
